Swedish princess / Perfect Diver Magazine 19 issue

Swedish princess

Under the ceiling

Text and photos TOMEK RAMUTKOWSKI

SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, 197 KM AWAY FROM STOCKHOLM IN A STRAIGHT LINE, 250 KM AWAY FROM OSLO, NORWAY, 542 KM FROM COPENHAGEN, DENMARK AND 970 KM FROM WARSAW, THERE IS A MAGICAL PLACE.

It is hidden between mighty spruce trees of an old Scandinavian forest. Just at the outskirts of a small town, quite often covered with pure white snow, particularly in December, when I last visited it. Both the snow cover and air temperature, typically around -15°Celsius, made the climate there truly enchanting.

Well, that’s all cool and stuff, but this magazine is supposed to be about diving, not “Frozen” winter cartoon landscapes, so where can I dive there, you might ask.

The place is Tuna Hastberg – an iron ore mine, which attracts divers from all over Europe like a giant magnet.

UNDER THE SURFACE To discover the beauty of the place, you need to go deep underground, descending down more than 400 steps, inclined at a 45 degree angle, leading 120 meters below the Earth’s surface. It is the main level that can be accessed without getting wet, leading to the diving zone.

Who treaded these stairs will know how impressive the experience is. Their surroundings are exceptionally interesting, as you can watch the remains of the old mine’s infrastructure. It is a wonder that the miners of the time would use it everyday going to work (and back! – ed.). Looking at all these elements we have to admit that those people were of an exceptional courage.

Who walked these stairs also knows that climbing them up back to the surface after an entire day spent underground diving is quite a challenge even for the fit divers.

Luckily, there is a cargo rail lift going both ways. You can pack all your dive gear there and have it delivered to your desired depth, from where it can be further transported by hand carts to the diving zone, and then after you are done diving, it can be comfortably sent back to the surface.

Just to think that the first crew to explore the mines had to take their dive gear all the way down to do the dive and then they had to get back to the surface carrying all that stuff. And all that in just one night, as at the time the mine was officially off limits. Back then the infrastructure was not yet adjusted to meet divers’ needs, so logistics were much harder.

Luckily, the mine is now available to the public and even more importantly, adjusted to accomodate “dry” trips organized there. But that’s not all, it’s ready for diving!

PREPARATION In the diving zone, you can find everything you need to comfortably prepare for diving, setting your gear straight after diving and catching a breather before going under again.

The diving zone is fitted with:

` - benches where you can gear up `

- a deck with seats just above the water, where you can make your final preparations before going in `

- access to gases: air, oxygen, nitrox, trimix

- a dry and warm zone with a dining area equipped with a microwaveoven and a wireless kettle.

Preparations have been made at the mine to make sure spending several days there without even getting back to the surface would be pleasureable. That’s of course if you remembered to bring some food with you:)

INTO THE WATER AT LAST! The underwater part of the mines is just magical, incredibly beautiful, exceptionally charming and fabulous. I could sing its praises till the end of time. However there are no words to fully express the atmosphere of this place. There are no words to express the emotions, the excitement you feel, when you explore more corridors with anticipation, curious about what can wait around the next corner, in the next room. You just have to be there, to experience it on your own. To see for yourself how it feels to float in the depths, surrounded by artefacts from the place’s glorious past.

The water is crystal clear, so you’re under the impression that you’re flying around old passageways, spacious chambers dozen or so meter high, elevator shafts or smaller gateways between levels.

You can find carts left on the tracks there, as if someone was mining there just a day before. Ladders scattered around in many places, like a set of giant jackstraws. Spools of various cables and so on. Finally you can find many rooms with old electricity boxes, which were used to distribute power throughout the mines, and wooden room structures hanging in the darkness like treehouses above the abyss.

And all this is waiting only in first level, extending no deeper than 35 meters down.

The level below lies at 75 meters depth , so it is only available for trimix divers, but it doesn’t really matter much, because there are so many interesting things to see in the first level that it would be hard to see everything in just one trip.

If you want to dive in the second level, apart from having trimix diving certification, you also need at least 10 hours of documented experience in this particular mine in the first level and obtain permission for this dive. As you might know from a story of some Finnish divers ;), these rules are followed to the letter by the mine’s management.

Water and ambient temperature is 4°C practically everywhere. There are but a couple of corridors where, for unknown reasons, it drops down to 2°C. You will need a high-performance undersuit and underwear to go with your drysuit. It is also definitely a good idea to get an electric heating system, which makes diving super enjoyable.

A HANDFUL OF HISTORICAL INFORMATION We do not know the exact date when people started mining for iron ore in Tuna. Some sources suggest that it started in the middle ages, however it is more likely that the first mining operations took place in the 16th or early 17th century.

What we know for sure is that in the late 16th century, in the nearby village of Laxsjön, there was a crude iron production hut, and in the following years their number around the mine kept growing.

Despite operating for hundreds of years, the mine hadn’t flourished until the 20th century, due to modernization and mining advancements.

Eventually Tuna was closed in summer 1968, thus ending the hundreds of years of mining. Six million tons of ore were extracted there over those years and it is estimated that deep in the mines there are still significant deposits, at least 16 million tons.

SAFETY RULES AND REQUIREMENTS The safety rules are typical for a mine. You are required to wear a helmet from the moment you enter the stairs until you reach the diving zone. It is especially important, as the corridors are not high and there are sharp rocks and pieces of metal protruding from the ceiling, which can be really dangerous. I was thankful for my helmet more than once:)

Diving requirements:

` - overhead (mine or cave diver) certification is required `

- solo dives are forbidden `

- briefing with a check dive provided by the staff are mandatory during your first visit to the mine

` - at least 10 hours of documented experience in this particular mine is required before you can get permission to dive deeper

` - dive parameters must be recorded on the board (team, time, place, etc.) `

- trimix certification for deeper dives`

- cave dpv certification if you use a DPV

Non-overhead dives are possible in the mine, in the open part near the entrance, where the corridor with open access is quite long, which allows open water divers to feel the taste of how awesome this place really is. However, I must say that the true beauty of the mine can only be found after you descend to the first level.

When diving in an overhead environment, such as mines, caves or wrecks, a rebreather is a diver’s true friend. It provides much more freedom and much better safety in comparison to diving OC. But this is a topic for a separate article :)

SUMMARY The Tuna mine in Sweden is undoubtedly a unique place. It is one of the “must visit” European overhead diving locations for those who have the appropriate certificates.

For those who don’t, Tuna can be a great source of motivation to constantly improve and get new certification, and more importantly – skills, to be able to dive in this incredible place.

I hope this article and the photos it contains, which only show a fraction of what you can see in the mine, will also motivate you to progress as divers, to claim your unforgettable dive in the fantastic Tuna mine as your prize. I wish you all good luck and I am always ready to help.

PERFECTDIVER No. 1(19)/2022 15